Ocean Mist officials won't testify in Steve Collins case

The defense for former county water board member Steve Collins was dealt another setback Thursday after a Superior Court judge rejected his attorney's bid to call Ocean Mist Farms officials to testify, even as the prosecution wrapped up its presentation.

Judge Pamela Butler denied a request by defense attorney Mike Lawrence to call Ocean Mist officials Ed Boutonnet, Dale Huss and Jim Schweffel to the stand in a preliminary hearing to determine if Collins will face a slew of charges alleging he accepted payments for work he either didn't do or shouldn't have been paid for while he was a public official. The case includes dozens of charges that Collins billed the Castroville artichoke grower tens of thousands of dollars for attending meetings he never went to or that never occurred while he was working as a consultant for the firm.

Butler ruled there was no evidence the officials' testimony would bolster the defense's claims that Collins never intended to defraud Ocean Mist, that he provided the firm full value for its money and that any confusion about the details of his consulting work was the company's fault because of a lax agreement with Collins that largely didn't require detailed records.

The ruling was the latest setback for the defense, which has already seen bids rejected to call various public officials, including county supervisors, to the stand to testify on conflict of interest charges alleging Collins accepted payments from the private consulting firm RMC Water and Environment for work on the failed regional desalination project while he was a public official.

Both sides will present their arguments at the conclusion of the lengthy preliminary hearing Tuesday afternoon.

Thursday's testimony revealed that District Attorney's Office investigators first learned there might be questions about Collins' consulting work for Ocean Mist from Supervisor Dave Potter, who presumably learned about it from Supervisor Lou Calcagno. Boutonnet, Ocean Mist's CEO, approached Calcagno in early 2011 after Collins resigned from the county water board amid revelations about his dual role on the regional desal project.

Prosecutor Stephanie Hulsey concluded her presentation Thursday by finishing off a lengthy questioning of investigator Heather Hardee, whose testimony focused largely on Collins' consulting deal with Ocean Mist and the fallout after company officials discovered errors in his billings.

Hardee said Boutonnet disputed a number of assertions by Collins, including that he had offered Collins his support and said he could return after the matter was cleared up, and that the company had offered Collins a bonus and hired his nephew because they were so happy with him.

Boutonnet said he never told Collins he could return to the company's employ, that the bonus was actually the unpaid portion of a $25,000 loan to Collins the company wrote off as a bad debt, and that the nephew was hired as an intern at a college job fair, Hardee testified.

In addition, Hardee testified, Huss said he invested $6,000 with Collins on a "Bollywood-style" movie deal, but never saw any return and eventually concluded he wouldn't get the money back.

During a discussion with Collins, the company officials said they felt he had issued a "veiled threat" when he insisted they sign a supportive statement disavowing the criminal allegations and said his attorneys would go after the company's "skeletons" if they declined, Hardee testified.

During cross-examination, Lawrence said company officials had called Collins an expert on local agriculture, water, land use and other issues of which his knowledge and perspective were highly valued.

Lawrence also said the original consulting contract, which began in 2002, resulted in a series of uniform monthly payments not based on specified work hours, which he called essentially a "retainer."

He disputed the notion that the agreement was changed by virtue of a single, brief email from Boutonnet's assistant sent near the end of 2005 asking for more detailed invoices as a result of questions about Collins' bills. Lawrence suggested the change was actually due to concerns about the IRS's interpretation of Collins' role with the company. That, he said, was because Collins still had an office at Ocean Mist and received company-paid benefits.

Lawrence argued the relaxed nature of a consulting deal between Collins and Ocean Mist established a pattern of behavior with the capacity to change the written contract, including any requirement for accurately detailing consulting efforts and work hours, regardless of later statements by Boutonnet suggesting he always expected Collins' invoices to be accurate.

The defense attorney insisted Collins was Boutonnet's "go-to guy" and the company got "full value" for its money.